Madam Pang unexpectedly did something unprecedented in the student football tournament.

The President of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT), Madam Pang, boldly implemented VAR technology and FIFA-certified referees in the Thai U17 student football tournament, turning the “Madam Cup” into a youth event with unmatched scale and rewards.

The President of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) – Nualphan Lamsam, commonly known as Madam Pang – continues to attract attention by heavily investing in the Thai U17 student football league. For the 2025/26 season, she decided to apply VAR technology and invite FIFA referees to officiate the third-place match and the final.

The two matches held on February 22 at Pat Stadium will be conducted under standards never before seen in a school competition. All four referees hold FIFA certification, and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system is officially introduced. Each team has the right to request VAR reviews twice per half, enhancing transparency and fairness in critical decisions.

The tournament named “Madam Cup” is now in its fourth consecutive year. With each season, both the scale and quality have been upgraded, especially financially. This year’s total prize fund exceeds 1 million baht (over 834 million VND), making it the highest-rewarded seven-a-side student football competition in Thailand.

The champion team receives 300,000 baht, the runner-up gets 150,000 baht, while the third and fourth places earn 100,000 and 50,000 baht respectively. Additionally, there are individual awards and attractive bonuses. Notably, the best player will sign a youth training contract with Port FC and gain the opportunity for a two-week training stint at Avispa Fukuoka, a J-League 1 club in Japan.

Beyond the prize money, the top three teams will each select five players to travel to Saudi Arabia to support Thailand’s U17 team at the 2026 AFC U17 Championship finals. This is regarded as a great motivation for young talents to strive and gain practical experience.

Introducing VAR into a student football tournament demonstrates Madam Pang’s ambition to elevate youth football. By investing systematically in refereeing, technology, and career development opportunities, she is turning the “Madam Cup” into a strategic launching pad for the next generation of Thai footballers.